Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the

history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural

backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the

United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly

resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all

nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally

protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. The UDHR is widely

recognized as having inspired, and paved the way for, the adoption of more than seventy

human rights treaties, applied today on a permanent basis at global and regional levels

(all containing references to it in their preambles).

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all

members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the

world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts

which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which

human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and

want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort,

to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by

the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between

nations,Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaﬃrmed their faith in

fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the

equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and

better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the

United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights

and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest

importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly,

Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of

achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every

organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching

and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive

measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition

and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the

peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with

reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without

distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other

opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no

distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international

status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent,

trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be

prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment.

Article 6

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal

protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in

violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for

acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and

impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal

Article 11

1. 2. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent

until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the

guarantees necessary for his defence.

No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or

omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or internationallaw, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed

than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or

correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right

to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders

2. of each state.

Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his

country.

Article 14

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from

2. persecution.

This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from

non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the

United Nations.

Article 15

1. 2. Everyone has the right to a nationality.

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to

change his nationality.

Article 16

1. 2. 3. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or

religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal

rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending

spouses.

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to

protection by society and the State.

Article 17

1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with

others.

2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right

includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in

community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in

teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom

to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and

ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers..

Article 20

1. 2. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 22

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to

realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance

with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural

rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23

1. 2. 3. 4. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and

favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring

for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and

supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his

interests.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working

hours and periodic holidays with pay..

Article 25

1. 2. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and

well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and

medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event

of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of

livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All

children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social

protection.

Article 26

1. 2. 3. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the

elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.

Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and

higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and

to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It

shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial

or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the

maintenance of peace.

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to

their children.

Article 27

1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to

enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests

resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the

author.

Article 28

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms

set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29

1. 2. 3. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full

development of his personality is possible.

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such

limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due

recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the

just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a

democratic society.

These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes

and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or

person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction

of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.